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<\/p>\nDesigner and Curtin graduate Rimsha Shakir\u00a0was the only Australian finalist in the prestigious Arts of Fashion Foundation event held in December 2019 in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
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Her confrontational entry took aim at societal expectations of women.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concept in my work of distortion and disguise come from my master degree in Applied Design and Art*,” she says. \u201cSociety has a particular perception of women and beauty, wanting women to be a size eight or smaller, and have a certain height, eye and hair colour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my line, I created deliberately imperfect clothes with stuffed padding to disguise and distort the shape of the body that people expect us to have. I wanted to throw the idea in people\u2019s faces that we are bound by societal expectations, but perfect the way we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Shakir says she used \u2018pretty flowers\u2019 in her collection to represent the particular notion of beauty society wants and expects.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I contrasted that \u2018prettiness\u2019 with words in print like \u2018fake\u2019, \u2018too perfect\u2019 and \u2018fat\u2019,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey are words we hear over and over from society, family, the media and advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a finalist, Shakir exhibited her entry at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe theme for the show was verticality,\u201d she says. \u201cVerticality, to me, means growth, but there hasn\u2019t been much growth when it comes to society\u2019s expectations of women and how we want them to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shakir hopes her eye-opening collection will inspire conversation and change.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt was an incredible experience to showcase my work in San Francisco,\u201d she smiles. \u201cIt was amazing to meet people from all over the world and have them see and judge your work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Curtin graduate says she received boundless support from her teachers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved my time at Curtin,\u201d she says. \u201cI had amazing teachers who cared about my opinion and gave me tremendous guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was given the freedom to pursue my passion and invest my personality in my work. That\u2019s what art really is to me \u2013 freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shakir is now working for fashion brand Zhivago and hopes to launch a new collection in the future.<\/p>\n
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